Making of the Map
by Mutt N. Feathers
Summary: Look inside the lives of the Marauders before they had their nicknames, before they had the map and discover why it came into being. What really drove the boys to become The Marauders. This will fall into my Sirius and Anwen centered multi-verse, although you don't need to know anything about that universe to enjoy. Will be about the boys and their growing up in and out of Hogwarts
1. Chapter 1a

**Author's Note: Hello everyone, and welcome to a new Marauders era story. This will follow the making of the Marauders Map. It will be multi-chaptered, although the chapters will be on the short side, due to my very prolific proffessional writing career (I have three books slated to come out this year, and another two in 2018). I hope you enjoy it, if you do please drop me a line. If you don't drop a line too, I respond to everything. Most of this is back story, but some is new. I will post at least once a week, on Wednesday. Thanks for taking the time, MNF**

 **The Making of the Map**

 **By Mutt N. Feathers**

 **Chapter 1:**

 **Band on the Run**

 **Friday, November 9, 1973**

"Damn it, that was too close," James Potter said as followed his mate and he slipped behind the tapestry which lead to the kitchens. "Filtch's new cat is more annoying than Mrs. Pidgwiddle." The boy had an easy charm which made him a natural leader. His hazel eyes were bright while his mop of dark hair went every which way.

"That's because you're too tall for your own cloak," retorted his best friend, Sirius Black. Aside from his eyes being grey and his hair being longer, the two boys could pass for twins; and they certainly acted like they were most of the time.

James and Sirius had known each other since they were little boys and had met at various functions within Wizarding society. Both being pure-blood and from Most Ancient and Noble houses it wasn't surprising they were thrown together. Thankfully, they liked each other. They spent gobs of time as children with James' cousin, Alice NIghman and Sirius' younger brother, Regulus. Everything changed, however, when they came to Hogwarts. Sirius was the first Black family member ever sorted into Gryffindor. James came from a long line of the members of the house of the mighty Godric Gryffindor. Alice was also in their house, but Regulus was sorted into the Black family's traditional house of Slytherin. It's not that there was anything wrong with Slytherin; they just didn't always mix well with each other.

Sirius knew this all too well, as his cousin, Bellatrix, was a perfect example. Haughty, snobbish, and incredibly prejudiced, she walked around like a princess rather than a regular witch. She had listened to the people claiming pure-blood status made them better than anyone else in the U.K – even the royal family. At first, he thought the talk silly, the kind of banter that old people often engaged in; but this summer it took a turn toward the deadly when Bella killed a Muggle woman who had insulted her. His father agreed that Bella had every right to do so; Sirius thought his father daft and said so. He thought his cousin should be taken to the authorities to pay for her crime. His non-belief in pure-blood superiority brought his father's wrath down on him. The Potters took him in, not needing to ask why he arrived in the middle of the night, bloody and bruised, with his school trunk in tow. He'd told no one.

"I think there's more than one of us too tall for that cloak, at least when we're all under it," commented their sandy-haired roommate, Remus Lupin. Remus was what the Wizarding World considered a half-blood – his father was magical while his mother was a Muggle. He was a quiet boy who was always amazed that his roommates had wanted to be his friend. Sometimes it was difficult to be with James and Sirius, they were like super-stars; Quidditch players, handsome, smart and from old families. Remus knew he was lucky to have friends, however, and it was why he tagged along regardless of his misgivings about the situation, even though he would often get them out of their calamities. Remus wouldn't tell them it was because he could hear sounds much further and at greater frequencies than they could. How he could do it was a secret he could never share. His father had drilled that into him nearly every day since he was five. His secret made his mother leave him. There were days the boy wanted to dig a hole and just lay down in and it and wait for death; his friendship was the only thing which saved him.

"Maybe we should use a potion to make us all disappear," said the final boy in a nasally voice which had yet to change. He also hadn't had the growth spurt the other three had gone through recently. It made Peter Pettigrew frustrated. He so wanted to be like the other three, but he wasn't. When people looked at the quartet, many wondered why little Peter was allowed in the group. Short and fat with a dirty, reddish-blonde sort of hair colour and small, dark, beady eyes he did not go with the other three dashing teens. Peter also wasn't nearly as smart as the other three. Admittedly, Sirius didn't get the grades he should, but it was from a lack of effort rather than a lack of understanding. Peter just barely passed most of his classes, save Arithmancy. His parents were both half-bloods, and both worked within the Ministry in dull, parchment-pushing jobs. Peter seemed destined to join them.

"Peter, I'm the best at potions," Remus said, "and I couldn't brew anything which would be of any use to us. If we're going to fudge curfew, then we need to use James' cloak."

"Gents, we came down here to get some snacks for our snooker game," Sirius said, "and I think we should complete our objective and get down to our playing." The others still didn't know how Sirius had brought a snooker table back to school with him—even though James recognized it as the one from his cellar storage—nor did they know how he had beer for tonight's festivities. But that was Sirius, capable of the impossible and a boy who could talk himself out of just about every detention. People just liked him; girls loved him. As of yet, he really hadn't met anyone he wanted to go out of his way to snog. His best mate, however, was madly in love. Sirius wasn't fond of Lily Evans nor the way she put down his friend.

In his utterly Sirius way, they were soon headed back to Gryffindor tower loaded down with cakes, biscuits, crisps and treats of all shapes. How he charmed the house-elves, James wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to argue with his friend.

"Sorting hat," James said to the fat lady on the portrait door. She was snoring so he said it louder.

"What, what, students out of bed at night? Sound the alarm!" She screamed, beginning to awaken the other portraits.

"You know, we won't be out of bed if you just open up and let us in," Sirius said with a wink. "We're growing boys and we needed a little snack."

"Well, I suppose I understand the need for a little nourishment," the woman in the portrait giggled. "Just this once, mind you."

"We swear, only this once," James quickly promised. It was an outright lie; they were always out after hours on weekends.

"Go on, then," she said, swinging wide the opening. "Get yourselves up to your room now." When the last was through, she closed the door. "Such nice boys."

Inside, the boys were traipsing up the stairs when Peter got an idea. "It's too bad we can't charm a map to tell us where people are, so we can avoid them when we're out prowling."

"Peter, we don't prowl," Remus quickly corrected. "We don't hunt things."

"Yes, yes, yes," he said, disappointed another idea had been shot down.

"Actually, Pete, that might be possible. James, do you remember that charm Nanny put on the wall in my nursery?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, she always knew where we were, even if we out in the yard or the playroom. Why?" James answered.

They had reached their room now, and the two boys just dumped their haul on the end of Sirius' bed. Their minds were no longer on games.

"If she could charm a wall to tell her where we were, couldn't we charm something to tell us where others were?" Sirius hypothesized.

"It would need to be small enough to be carried around," Remus added.

"Two feet of parchment would work. We carry that much around most of the time," James said.

"And you can cram that much in your robe if you need to," Peter added. None of them talked about THAT particular incident anymore; but his stolen anatomy parchments were legendary. So was the detention for defacing a school reference book from the Restricted Section.

"We need to figure out how to make sure the people will show up on the map. I don't know how Nanny did it." James was already into the mental gymnastics of the project.

"There are ways to find out. Blacks are not good at keeping their secrets." Except him, Sirius thought. He'd never trust anyone with the whole truth about his childhood.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hello everyone, here's another chapter. The plot continues to thicken... See you next week. MNF**

 **Chapter 2:**

 **Dancing on a Saturday Night**

 **Saturday, November 10, 1973**

Sirius and James were up and out of Gryffindor tower early the following morning, even with only a few hours of sleep. They had both drunk close to a full pot of tea at breakfast, which would give them enough pep until they were out on the pitch. New additions to the team this year, they had been flying and practicing with each other since they were eight, and James' father had bought them training brooms. Unlike Sirius' family home, which was in the city and had a garden the size of a postage stamp; James' family lived on an estate in Scotland. _Potter Manor_ had its Quidditch pitch, and the boys flew every day they could.

While Sirius preferred to play Chaser, there were only places for one Chaser and one Beater open when term started this year. Knowing this would be the case at the end of last year, Sirius practiced all summer on his Beating skills, and they were able to join the team together. Lately, Sirius had imagined the Bludger was different people in his family, which gave him far more power and distance on his hits. They would both need everything they could give, as Gryffindor was facing Slytherin. The pair knew, as the only pure-bloods on the team – both of whom were considered pure-blood traitors by many in Slytherin – they would be targeted heavily.

Cramming an entire triangle of buttered toast into his mouth, Sirius stood and mumbled that he wanted to get up in the air and run a few drills before they had to change and meet the team in the Gryffindor changing room. James stood, swallowing down half a glass of pumpkin juice in one gulp and took one end of their broom case while his mate took the other. They took no chances with their brooms being tampered with, so they were kept in a case James had charmed to the right size and shape from an old suitcase. Only he and Sirius knew the password to open it. If someone else were to attempt to tamper with it, they would get a good squirt of squid dye. Peter had tried to see their brooms one afternoon early in September, and it was a mistake he never repeated. Now that Sirius was a Beater, he kept his bat in there as well.

The pair chatted about the map as they walked, planning to test out the first one of their ideas tonight.

"If we get to supper before the rest of the house, we can charm the table," James said. "Then, we can eat fast, go back to our room and wait to see if we can tell who comes back into the tower and when."

"Right," Sirius replied. "If it works, then we can do all the tables. Easy."

"Not so easy. We'll need to do a better map than the Gryffindor common room and stairs."

"Yeah. Eh, Remus is the best at drawing, he can work on that."

"Did he seem twitchy to you last night? When we got back to the room, he couldn't sit still." James asked.

"Yeah, but he gets like that every so often. It's like all those times he gets called home or to his aunt's. Lots of weird stuff happens in his family," Sirius answered.

"Father didn't even call me home when Mother was taken to St. Mungo's after blowing up her potting shed," James thought aloud. She'd been hurt doing battle with a particularly nasty gnome which had nested in her prized begonias. "Although, we do go home with Alice for Sunday dinner when we feel like it."

"I'd rather be at your place than mine," Sirius stated flatly. James' knew he'd had a letter from home, and it had made him moodier than usual. James didn't understand how Sirius was so normal when it seemed everyone else in his family was crazy.

They reached the pitch and did a few laps to warm up and find their best seat and position for handling the broom on the cold, November morning _. At least it isn't snowing; Quidditch in a snowstorm isn't fun_ , James thought as he quickly went through his usual paces of feints, turns, dips, and climbs. Meanwhile, Sirius had taken one of the practice Bludgers and his bat out to do some swings. He had figured out how to charm the oddly shape ball to return to him and stop about six inches in front of him. It was better than being hit in the face when the auto-return on the ball kicked in.

They were only able to practice for about thirty minutes before the Slytherin team arrived to run their team drills. James and Sirius politely landed and put away their gear, but no one specifically asked them to the leave the pitch; so, they stayed and collected intel under James cloak, which he kept with him always. One of the female Chasers was looking off in her flying. They carried this information to the rest of the team.

Meanwhile, Peter had awoken Remus earlier than he needed to, just because he wanted to see his roommates play in their first match. Remus agreed it was exciting, but couldn't figure out why Peter didn't sleep in later when he could. They had ninety minutes before the match when thirty would have done them just as well. Remus blearily watched as Peter painted his face red and gold and then donned a jumper his mother had made him with a giant Snitch knit in the middle in the oddest colour of copper yarn. The sweater itself was a hideous red and greenish gold. The not-quite-awake boy found it hurt his eyes to look at the monstrosity. Then he noticed that, sadly, his mother had knitted mittens, attached with a section of yarn, to the ends of the sleeves. From several things Peter had said and done, he suspected his parents still treated him as a young child. The jumper went further to support his theory.

After a leisurely breakfast, which made Peter antsy, the pair arrived at the pitch.

"This is so exciting," Peter yelled as the Gryffindor team came out. He squealed in a high pitch when he saw James and Sirius. The trio of sixth-year girls who were sitting next to him pointed at him and tittered. While Peter didn't notice, Remus did.

The match moved quickly, and there was certainly something wrong with the Chaser on the Slytherin team. She dropped the Quaffle three times, and she was so poorly seated on her broom that at one point Sirius had to steady her, lest she fall to the ground. His own team didn't seem concerned about her at all. Gryffindor won in a lopsided victory of four hundred-twenty to eighty.

When the team returned to the tower, they were welcomed with cheers, hugs, a few kisses on the cheek, and promises of a stellar party that night. James and Sirius quickly found their roommates, and the four friends agreed tonight would be epic if they could see who was coming in and out; even better, who might be snogging who and where. Sirius was approached by a sixth-year girl named Lucy, offering to give him a victory snog. Before he could answer, she was kissing him and shoving her tongue down his throat. He participated in the kiss, but couldn't shake the memories of his father's birthday present from last year and Olivia Nott. Both made him break it off and thank the girl and shake her hand before walking away.

James was attempting to talk with Lily Evans again, but she was doing her best to ignore him. The problem was her four roommates were very interested in talking to James. Sirius saw them and shook his head. He couldn't understand why his mate wouldn't leave her alone; she obviously didn't like him.

Sirius found Peter sitting with a few of the second-year boys, and joined them. "Know where Remus is? Did he go up to do homework again?"

"No, Professor McGonagall came in and told him it was time to get ready for something. It sounded like dancing lessons, but that would be stupid."

"Yeah, you must have heard that wrong, Pete," Sirius said distractedly. He was lost in thoughts when James sat down next to him. It took a hard nudge to the ribs to break into the train.

"What's up? I saw Lucy Winters kissing you right well," James teased. "Thinking about her lip gloss?" Sirius had mentioned how good Rosie Sitwell tasted when he'd kissed her their first year; she was wearing strawberry lip gloss. Now, whenever James saw Sirius get kissed, he asked him about it.

"No, and I really didn't enjoy kissing Lucy," he said softly; he didn't want her to know. "A bit too aggressive for me."

"Ah," James said, not really sure what aggressive kissing was like. "What were you thinking about then?"

"Remus has gone off again. Professor McGonagall came and took him to what Peter called 'dancing lessons.'

"Well, that would be a pile of steaming shite."

"Exactly. Where is he going? He can't have this many problems in his family."

"We need to find out what's going on with him," James stated, and the two boys stood and walked up to their room to formulate a plan.


End file.
